Hush's Harris teams up with former Fish! man for new venture
Henry Harris, former executive chef at London restaurant Hush, will be returning to the kitchen next month when he and former Fish! operations director Eric Garnier open a new restaurant in South Kensington.
Racine will be a 75-seat restaurant on the site of Balans on the Brompton Road and will open at the beginning of June.
Described by Harris as "a bourgeois, Parisian-style neighbourhood restaurant", Racine will be aimed at the £30-a-head market.
The rectangular site will be fitted out with banquettes, some oak panelling and light walls.
Harris, who made is name at Harvey Nichol's flagship store restaurant Fifth Floor, left Hush at the end of the March to set up a company with Garnier called Oratoire, which bought a lease on the site at Easter.
The site has a 1,200sq ft ground floor and a further 1,000sq ft basement with private dining and external seating areas.
"I will be going back on to the stoves and Eric will be running the front of house. One of the patrons will always be working there," said Harris.
"The main plan is that the core of the menu is affordable," he added.
Property agent Shelley Sandzer says it represented Oratoire in the deal, but Harris said it was not involved in negotiations.
by Nic Paton